Homebuilding Still on the Rise
December 20, 2012 —
CDJ STAFFThe National Association of Home Builders reports that spending on private homes was up three percent in October 2012, bringing it to a four-year high. This was part of a trend in which fourteen of the last fifteen months have seen increases in spending on residential construction. Likewise, multifamily residences have seen thirteen months of increased spending, putting it 82% higher than its low, two years ago. In addition to new homes, remodeling is also up, reaching its highest point in five years.
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Extreme Rainfall Is Becoming More Frequent and Deadly
November 11, 2024 —
Lou Del Bello - BloombergTorrential rains that triggered floods and landslides have killed hundreds of people and displaced millions across parts of Africa, Europe, Asia and the US in recent months.
The unprecedented deluges overwhelmed even communities accustomed to extreme weather and showed the limitations of the early-warning systems and emergency protocols established in many countries to avoid major loss of life.
Climate scientists have warned that an accelerated water cycle is locked into the world’s climate system due to past and projected greenhouse gas emissions, and is now irreversible.
The communities that tend to pay the highest price are often in poorer countries, where environments can be more fragile and governance more patchy, and there are fewer resources to bounce back after a disaster.
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Lou Del Bello, Bloomberg
Possible Real Estate and Use and Occupancy Tax Relief for Philadelphia Commercial and Industrial Property Owners
September 07, 2017 —
James Vandermark & Kevin Koscil - White and Williams LLPA recent decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court puts in jeopardy all of the recent real estate tax reassessments completed by the City of Philadelphia for tax year 2018 as well as appeals initiated by the School District of Philadelphia in 2016 for tax year 2017.
The City’s current practice is to certify the market values of any reassessed properties to the Board of Revision of Taxes on March 31st prior to the year that the assessment would be implemented. The City then relies on those certified values to determine the applicable tax rate when it creates its budget each summer. Accordingly, the Office of Property Assessment (OPA) submitted the values applicable for the 2018 tax year to the BRT on March 31, 2017. The City set the applicable tax rates during its summer budget sessions. However, unlike prior years, this year the City only reassessed commercial and industrial properties and excluded residential properties. The result was reported to be an increase of over $118 million in new real estate taxes.
Shortly after the City finished its budget, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided the case of Valley Forge Towers Apartments N, LP, et al. v. Upper Merion Area School District. The case involved a challenge by property owners to the Upper Merion School District’s practice of only appealing assessments on commercial properties. As with the recent reassessments by the City, Upper Merion was only seeking to increase the real estate tax assessments for high value commercial properties. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that the school district’s practice violated the Uniformity Clause in the Pennsylvania Constitution. The court reaffirmed the principle that real estate within a jurisdiction should be treated as a single class and that tax authorities are not permitted to discriminate against commercial and industrial properties in favor of residential properties for purposes of real estate taxation.
Reprinted courtesy of
James Vandermark, White and Williams LLP and
Kevin Koscil, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Vandermark may be contacted at vandermarkj@whiteandwilliams.com
Mr. Koscil may be contacted at koscilk@whiteandwilliams.com
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Insurer Has Duty to Defend Sub-Contractor
July 25, 2022 —
Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law HawaiiInterpreting Connecticut law, the federal district court had that the insured sub-contractor was entitled to a defense. County Wide Mech. Servs. LLC v. Regent Ins. Co., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86726 (D. Conn. May 13, 2022).
The underlying plaintiff, The Saybrook at Haddam, entered a contract with PAC Group to serve as general contractor for construction of an addition to The Saybrook's facility. PAC Group sub-contracted with County Wide Mechanical Services to install the HVAC system.
The HVAC system was put into service on November 14, 2014. In October 2019, The Saybrook filed the underlying action against PAC group, County Wide, and others. The underlying complaint alleged that there had been at least seven "critical failures" of the HVAC system. As a result, The Seabrook had to replace multiple compressors and several circuit boards, valves, and other components. Further, the entire system had to be replaced. The underlying complaint alleged breach of contract against PAC Group and County Wide. In addition to the alleged breach of contract between The Saybrook and County Wide, the Saybrook also alleged it was a third-party beneficiary of PAC Group's contract with County Wide regarding installation of the HVAC system. PAC Group cross-claimed against County Wide, asserting one count of contractual indemnification and one count of breach of contract under the PAC Group's contract with County Wide.
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Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak HastertMr. Eyerly may be contacted at
te@hawaiilawyer.com
White and Williams Celebrates Chambers 2024 Rankings
June 21, 2024 —
White and Williams LLPWhite and Williams practice groups and attorneys have been ranked in this year's Chambers USA 2024 Guide. Among the rankings, the firm has been recognized in the areas of Insurance and Real Estate: Finance in Pennsylvania, and Construction in Maryland.
Chambers recognized Tim Davis, Managing Partner of the Firm, and Nancy Frantz, Chair of the Real Estate Finance Group, both of whom were recognized for Real Estate: Finance. Chambers also ranked Steven Coury, Managing Partner of the Stamford, CT Office, for Real Estate, as well as Randy Maniloff, Partner, and Patricia Santelle, Chair Emeritus/Former Managing Partner and Chair of the Executive Committee, for Insurance. David Marion, Senior Counsel and Chambers’ Senior Statespeople (22-years ranked) was recognized for Litigation: General Commercial. Partner David Gilliss, Managing Partner of the Maryland office, was recognized for Construction and Amy Vulpio, Co-Chair of the Financial Restructuring and Bankruptcy Practice, was recognized for Bankruptcy/Restructuring.
In one review of Tim Davis, a client described, "He's been around a long time; he's seen it all and has an instinctive feel for getting to the right outcome." Davis has been listed for the past four years and was described by Chambers as, “experienced in representing clients, including insurance companies, banks and investments funds, in a wide variety of real estate finance transactions.”
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White and Williams LLP
Virginia Civil Engineers Give the State's Infrastructure a "C" Grade
December 13, 2022 —
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released the 2022 Report Card for Virginia's Infrastructure today, with 11 categories of infrastructure receiving an overall grade of a 'C'. That means Virginia's infrastructure is in mediocre condition and requires attention. Virginia is a step ahead of the national average of 'C-' given in the 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. Nine of the 11 categories ranked higher than the national grades, as only rail ('C-' compared to the national 'B' grade) and wastewater (tied with the national grade of 'D+') ranked the same or lower, a testament to the state's prioritization of its built environment. Virginia has implemented ambitious plans to improve each of its infrastructure systems and additional resources from the state level and the bipartisan infrastructure law will help these efforts. Civil engineers graded bridges (B), dams (C+), drinking water (C+), public parks (C), rail (C-), roads (C-), schools (C-), solid waste (B-), stormwater (C-), transit (C-), and wastewater (D+).
Virginia's transportation sector has performed better than the national average. Roughly 3% of the state's bridges are in poor condition – less than half the national average of 7.5% -- and the percentage of roads in 'good' condition rose from 48% in 2018 to 51% in 2022. Virginia is also a regional leader in transit services with connection to the Washington, D.C. Metro system and with 41 transit systems across the state, some of which have already surpassed pre-pandemic ridership levels. However, wastewater systems, despite making progress by reducing sewage overflows, face more than $6 billion in needs over 20 years and will need significantly more resources to improve systems and protect water quality for communities and the natural environment.
The Report Card was created as a public service to citizens and policymakers to inform them of the infrastructure needs in their state. Civil engineers used their expertise and school report card-style letter grades to condense complicated data into an easy-to-understand analysis of Virginia's infrastructure network. ASCE State and Regional Infrastructure Report Cards are modeled after the national Infrastructure Report Card, which gave America's infrastructure an overall grade of 'C-' in 2021.
To view the report card and all five categories, visit https://infrastructurereportcard.org/state-item/Virginia/.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.
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U.S. Home Lending Set to Bounce Back in 2015 After Slump
January 21, 2015 —
Kathleen M. Howley – BloombergThe U.S. mortgage market hit bottom in 2014.
Chief economists at Fannie Mae and Moody’s Analytics Inc. as well as the Mortgage Bankers Association all predicted a turnaround this year after a record decline in 2014.
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Kathleen M. Howley, BloombergMs. Howley may be contacted at
kmhowley@bloomberg.net
BHA Attending the Construction Law Conference in San Antonio, Texas
February 24, 2016 —
CDJ STAFFBert L. Howe & Associates, Inc. (BHA), will once again be joining with the State Bar of Texas, Construction Law Section as a sponsor and exhibit at the event on March 3 & 4, 2016, and is excited to announce that they will be sponsoring a raffle for a $100 Outdoor World gift card to be given away at the conference. Just stop by the BHA booth, and drop your card in the bowl for a chance to win.
With offices in San Antonio and Houston, BHA offers the experience of over 20 years of service to carriers, defense counsel, and insurance professionals as designated experts in over 5,500 cases. BHA’s staff encompasses a broad range of licensed and credentialed experts in the areas of general contracting and specialty trades, as well as architects, civil and structural engineers, and has provided services on behalf of developers, general contractors and subcontractors across the state of Texas.
BHA’s experience covers the full range of construction defect litigation, including single and multi-family residential properties (including high-rise), institutional buildings (schools, hospitals and government), commercial, and industrial claims. BHA also specializes in coverage, exposure, and delay claim analysis.
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